John Altham (1589 – November 5, 1640), also known as John Gravenor, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

who came to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

to preach to the Native Americans.

Life

He was born in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, in 1589. In November 1633, he and fellow Jesuit Andrew White set sail with Governor

Leonard Calvert Leonard Calvert ( – ) was the first Lord proprietor, proprietary governor of the Province of Maryland. He was the second son of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, The 1st Baron Baltimore (1579–1632), the first proprietor of Maryland. His e ...

and arrived in the Chesapeake Bay area in March 1634. Upon landing, he obtained a hut from its Indian owner, which he fitted up for religious service, and it was afterward known as "the first chapel in Maryland." He performed his missionary work among the Indians around

Kent Island Kent Island is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay and a historic place in Maryland. To the east, a narrow channel known as the Kent Narrows barely separates the island from the Delmarva Peninsula, and on the other side, the island is sep ...

from 1634Curran, Robert Emmett. ''Papist Devils: Catholics in British America'', CUA Press, 2014, p. 48
/ref> till his death from yellow fever, in nearby

St. Mary's, Maryland St. Mary's City (also known as Historic St. Mary's City) is a former colonial town that was founded in March 1634, as Maryland's first European settlement and capital. It is now a state-run historic area, which includes a reconstruction of the ...

, in 1640.

References

*''Who Was Who in America, Historical Edition 1607-1896.'' Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1967. 1589 births 1640 deaths 17th-century English Jesuits People from Warwickshire {{UK-RC-clergy-stub